WW3 fears explode as China can sink US carrier ‘in minutes’ | US | News
A top-secret US government assessment has concluded that China would prevail in a war against Taiwan, dealing a serious blow to American military dominance in the region, The Telegraph reported.
The highly classified “Overmatch Summary” warns that the United States’ dependence on expensive, advanced weapons leaves it vulnerable to China’s ability to mass produce cheaper systems in overwhelming numbers.
A national security official in President Joe Biden’s administration who reviewed the document reportedly turned pale after discovering that Beijing had “layoff after layoff” for “every trick we’ve got up our sleeves,” according to The New York Times.
The loss of Taiwan, an important ally of the United States and a bulwark against Chinese power in the Western Pacific, would deal a devastating strategic and symbolic blow to Washington.
America’s most advanced aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, is often destroyed in war games
The summary outlines war games in which the USS Gerald R Ford, the United States’ most advanced aircraft carrier, was frequently destroyed.
The $13bn (£9.75bn) ship, which enters service in 2022 after years of delays, is vulnerable to attack from diesel-electric submarines and China’s arsenal of around 600 hypersonic missiles that can travel at five times the speed of sound.
Eric Gomez, a research fellow at the Taiwan Security Monitor, participated in a war game simulating the Taiwan conflict and noted that the United States suffered heavy casualties, although the outcome was uncertain.
“The US is losing a lot of ships in the process. A lot of the F-35s and other tactical aircraft in the field are also breaking down pretty quickly,” he told The Telegraph.
Defense Secretary admits US ‘always’ loses in Pentagon war games against China
Last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth admitted that “we lose every time” in the Pentagon’s war games against China, predicting that the Asian country’s hypersonic missiles could destroy aircraft carriers in minutes.
China has significantly expanded its arsenal of short-, intermediate-, and intermediate-range missiles, enabling it to destroy many of the United States’ advanced weapons long before they reach Taiwan.
As tensions between the United States and China over the fate of Taiwan continue to escalate, the revelations in the “Overmatch Summary” serve as a stark warning of the challenges the American military may face in a potential conflict with its Asian rival.
The report underscores the need for the United States to adapt its military strategies and technologies to counter China’s growing military capabilities and maintain its strategic superiority in the region.
